Jill Ellis, coach of the US women’s national team, liked what she saw from Lindsey Horan.

It was late 2015, the USWNT had recently won the World Cup, and Ellis wanted to build toward the future. That meant calling in several younger players whom she thought could make an impact both at the 2016 Olympics and for years to come. Horan, then 21 years old, was one of those players.

But Ellis told Horan, who had been playing for Paris Saint-Germain since 2012, that if she wanted to secure a regular spot with the national team, she’d need to play in the United States, where coaches could see her consistently and she’d be available beyond FIFA breaks.

Horan had chosen to skip college and play professionally in France right out of high school, the toughest decision of her life. Now, she had another decision that was just as difficult: Should she chase a spot on the national team or finish out her contract at PSG?